I have passed Wilmoore Café many times, and I’m always intrigued by the protruding display windows full of tables and chairs rather than retail. But I had never been until a few weeks ago, because I tend to end up in Raleigh later at night, and the Wilmoore Cafe is always closed when I stroll by. Luckily, it was open before a show at the Progress Energy Center and was the perfect spot for my group of six to meet up and get a quick dinner ahead of time.

The name comes from its location where Wilmington Street and Moore Square meet—clever, Wilmoore Café, clever! You order at the counter, and the selection is a variety of sandwiches, soups, and salads with clear indicators for allergies, vegan, and gluten-free options. Coffee is their specialty, but I didn’t try it this night. Emphasis was on dinner!

That’s the Tuscan Salad sandwich, made with pickled veggies, tomatoes, mixed greens, tomato relish, and balsamic vinaigrette. Sandwiches come with pickles and a choice of slaw, side salad, homemade chips, or fruit. This friend went for the soup of the day.

This sandwich is the Mediterranean with hummus, romaine, tomato, red onion, and roasted red peppers. The pictures remind me that serving food on these aluminum trays is trendy right now, but I don’t think they do a great job of framing the food because so much space is wasted. I’m hoping the trays shrink or the fad passes. Yes, I care that much about plating.

Next is the French Dip with swiss and caramelized onions.

That one looked pretty tantalizing to me, and I’m not a roast beef fan. My friends were all quite happy with their choices, though one found the grilled pimento cheese sandwich to be underwhelming. The ingredients were nice and fresh all around.

I had the pork banh mi with a side salad.

The pork is roasted in-house, and the sandwich is filled with pickled radishes and carrots, spicy mayo, cilantro, and jalapenos. The ingredients were perfect, especially the bread and pickled veggies, although it could have been more stuffed full of them. The salad ingredients were crisp and served with a simple vinaigrette.

The Wilmoore Café is a great option for a quick sandwich or salad with more quality ingredients than I expected. As their motto says, it’s “good, healthy food with a friendly coffeehouse vibe.” I can’t wait to try their fried green beans and sit in one of the window displays with a cup of joe.

Triangle Arts and Entertainment is taking a poll on who is the Best Coffee Shop in the Triangle. Please vote or suggest someone we might have missed.
Winner gets a plaque and caffeine kicking bragging rights plus web badges and the top 5 finalists get certificates plus web badges.